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Kerry: No place for Assad in Syria’s future

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kerry no place for assasd in a future syriaU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry insisted on Friday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has no place in Syria’s future and said the United States was not without options on stepping up pressure on him.

Mr Kerry will lead a U.S. delegation to Switzerland next week for peace talks between the Syrian government and rebels aimed at ending the country’s civil war. His comments also come as Syrian opposition groups vote on whether to attend the U.N.-sponsored talks in Montreux, Switzerland.

“I believe as we begin to get to Geneva, and begin to get into this process, that it will become clear there is no political solution whatsoever if Assad is not discussing a transition and if he thinks he is going to be part of that future. It is not going to happen,” Mr Kerry told a news conference after meetings with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts.

“We are also not out of options with respect to what we may be able to do to increase the pressure and further change the calculus,” he added.

Accusing the Syrian President of funding and even ceding territory to extremists in order to fuel fears of militant groups, Kerry said “nobody is going to be fooled.”

“They can bluster, they can protest, they can put out distortions, the bottom line is we are going to Geneva to implement Geneva I, and if Assad doesn’t do that he will invite greater response,” he stressed.

More than 35 countries will gather in the Swiss cities of Montreux and Geneva from Wednesday for talks on setting up a transitional government to lead the country, in line with a 2012 deal.

Syria sank into civil war after a peaceful street uprising in March 2011 against four decades of Assad family rule. The revolt spiralled into an armed insurgency after the army responded with massive and deadly force to suppress the unrest.

Reuters/ Agencies

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9 responses to “Kerry: No place for Assad in Syria’s future”

  1. Beiruti Avatar
    Beiruti

    Whether you’re pro or anti-Assad, i think we can all agree John Kerry is annoying and useless.

  2. Beiruti Avatar
    Beiruti

    Whether you’re pro or anti-Assad, i think we can all agree John Kerry is annoying and useless.

  3. JossefPerl Avatar
    JossefPerl

    Obama said Asssad had to go; he then drew a red line regarding Assad using chemical weapon and Assad crossed it; now Kerry again makes some clear statements (with implied threats) that Assad has no future in Syria. All this amounts to something new, where a US president and a Secretary of State make statements and threats with no consequences; it is clear that the US is no longer being feared by its enemies in the middle east, who concluded that Obama had ruled out any military action against them at this time. In other words the US has unfortunately lost much of its power of deterance and the only thing that will change that is action not more threats.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      And at the same time, action is what no-body wants. Go figure …

  4. JossefPerl Avatar
    JossefPerl

    Obama said Asssad had to go; he then drew a red line regarding Assad using chemical weapon and Assad crossed it; now Kerry again makes some clear statements (with implied threats) that Assad has no future in Syria. All this amounts to something new, where a US president and a Secretary of State make statements and threats with no consequences; it is clear that the US is no longer being feared by its enemies in the middle east, who concluded that Obama had ruled out any military action against them at this time. In other words the US has unfortunately lost much of its power of deterance and the only thing that will change that is action not more threats.

  5. JossefPerl Avatar
    JossefPerl

    Obama said Asssad had to go; he then drew a red line regarding Assad using chemical weapon and Assad crossed it; now Kerry again makes some clear statements (with implied threats) that Assad has no future in Syria. All this amounts to something new, where a US president and a Secretary of State make statements and threats with no consequences; it is clear that the US is no longer being feared by its enemies in the middle east, who concluded that Obama had ruled out any military action against them at this time. In other words the US has unfortunately lost much of its power of deterance and the only thing that will change that is action not more threats.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      And at the same time, action is what no-body wants. Go figure …

  6. James Phillips Avatar
    James Phillips

    Whatever President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry say, the fact remains that Bashar al Assad is still too strong to be dismissed. He and his faction, while probably unable to reassert complete dominance over Syria’s Sunni majority, are going to have to be given a seat at the table, and pretending otherwise is nonsense.

  7. James Phillips Avatar
    James Phillips

    Whatever President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry say, the fact remains that Bashar al Assad is still too strong to be dismissed. He and his faction, while probably unable to reassert complete dominance over Syria’s Sunni majority, are going to have to be given a seat at the table, and pretending otherwise is nonsense.

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